WTF is this rank?

The comic opens with the Watcher on the moon, cognizant of his own approaching death. "I SEE YOU." Big explosion.

Wolverine, Cap, Black Widow, and Nick Fury, Sr. are chatting over steaks when Cap gets a call. He ropes Fury into going with them, and they head to the moon. Thor had discovered the Watcher's death, and pulled the Avengers in to investigate. The Watcher has a hole in his head and is missing both eyes. His home had also been ransacked, and no one knows what exactly is missing. Cap asks Fury to head up his own investigation.

Meanwhile, someone contacts Black Panther, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Emma Frost, Dr. Strange, the Punisher, Moon Knight, the Winter Soldier, and Gamora and puts them on the trail of "The Unseen. The Original Sin." Panther, Ant-Man, and Frost head to the center of the Earth, Dr. Strange and Punisher head to another dimension, and Moon Knight, the Winter Soldier, and Gamora set course for somewhere in space. As the teams are being put together, we cut to Cap talking to Fury. Black Widow found the "bullet," but all that is left are shards of glowing green crystal or metal.

On Earth, the Thing is facing off against a Mindless One, although he doesn't seem so mindless anymore. And it is armed with the Ultimate Nullifier. It telepathically laments the fact that it "knows," and wishes that it had never gone to the moon. Something there changed it. Spider-Man joins the fight, but the duo make no progress against the Mindless One. The creature threatens the pair with the Ultimate Nullfier, but, in its despair, it ultimately chooses to turn the weapon on itself. BIG explosion. The Thing and Spider-Man survive, but there is little left of their foe. Cap, Wolverine, Black Widow, and Fury arrive, and Fury takes charge of the crime scene.

As the issue closes, we see a room full of Mindless Ones, collapsing in pain as their minds become open to new ideas. We see two partially shadowed figures in the background. One notes that they, as well as the Mindless Ones, are changing, and that the things they stole from the moon are somehow evolving all of them. The second figure acknowledges this fact, but states that it is not their eyes he is most interested in opening as he uncovers a rag containing one of the Watcher's eyes.

As I said, this was a good first issue for an event. The stakes are high, there are plenty of mysteries to be solved, and there was a fair bit of action. I am interested in seeing where this goes, but I also enjoyed this as a single issue, which is rare for an event comic.

Initially, I assumed the shadowy figure contacting Black Panther and the others was Nick Fury, but I think that is a red herring. Fury was wearing space gear before and after those scenes, and the shadowy figure is clearly in something far less armored. He also appears to be holding something that very much resembles the bullet used to kill the Watcher. I would be interested in hearing other folks' speculation on who this could be. It would have to be someone all of these heroes trust implicitly, but also someone who isn't above using some less than savory methods to reach his goals, if this issue's dialogue is any indication. I think this will end up being the bigger mystery than who killed the Watcher, particularly as that may be revealed with next month's issue.

The comic opens with the Watcher on the moon, cognizant of his own approaching death. "I SEE YOU." Big explosion.

Wolverine, Cap, Black Widow, and Nick Fury, Sr. are chatting over steaks when Cap gets a call. He ropes Fury into going with them, and they head to the moon. Thor had discovered the Watcher's death, and pulled the Avengers in to investigate. The Watcher has a hole in his head and is missing both eyes. His home had also been ransacked, and no one knows what exactly is missing. Cap asks Fury to head up his own investigation.

Meanwhile, someone contacts Black Panther, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Emma Frost, Dr. Strange, the Punisher, Moon Knight, the Winter Soldier, and Gamora and puts them on the trail of "The Unseen. The Original Sin." Panther, Ant-Man, and Frost head to the center of the Earth, Dr. Strange and Punisher head to another dimension, and Moon Knight, the Winter Soldier, and Gamora set course for somewhere in space. As the teams are being put together, we cut to Cap talking to Fury. Black Widow found the "bullet," but all that is left are shards of glowing green crystal or metal.

On Earth, the Thing is facing off against a Mindless One, although he doesn't seem so mindless anymore. And it is armed with the Ultimate Nullifier. It telepathically laments the fact that it "knows," and wishes that it had never gone to the moon. Something there changed it. Spider-Man joins the fight, but the duo make no progress against the Mindless One. The creature threatens the pair with the Ultimate Nullfier, but, in its despair, it ultimately chooses to turn the weapon on itself. BIG explosion. The Thing and Spider-Man survive, but there is little left of their foe. Cap, Wolverine, Black Widow, and Fury arrive, and Fury takes charge of the crime scene.

As the issue closes, we see a room full of Mindless Ones, collapsing in pain as their minds become open to new ideas. We see two partially shadowed figures in the background. One notes that they, as well as the Mindless Ones, are changing, and that the things they stole from the moon are somehow evolving all of them. The second figure acknowledges this fact, but states that it is not their eyes he is most interested in opening as he uncovers a rag containing one of the Watcher's eyes.

As I said, this was a good first issue for an event. The stakes are high, there are plenty of mysteries to be solved, and there was a fair bit of action. I am interested in seeing where this goes, but I also enjoyed this as a single issue, which is rare for an event comic.

Initially, I assumed the shadowy figure contacting Black Panther and the others was Nick Fury, but I think that is a red herring. Fury was wearing space gear before and after those scenes, and the shadowy figure is clearly in something far less armored. He also appears to be holding something that very much resembles the bullet used to kill the Watcher. I would be interested in hearing other folks' speculation on who this could be. It would have to be someone all of these heroes trust implicitly, but also someone who isn't above using some less than savory methods to reach his goals, if this issue's dialogue is any indication. I think this will end up being the bigger mystery than who killed the Watcher, particularly as that may be revealed with next month's issue.

DANG!

So, if the Mindless Ones are involved, I guess that makes Dormammu a suspect? It would make sense then that the female he was with was Umar.

"I have my heroes, but no one knows their names"- Sons of the Desert

Strict31 wrote:I'm not sure that combining the nigh-uncontrollable power of LOLtron with the Nacireman is a good idea. Some years from now, when mankind is on the verge of extinction, we'll be able to look back and remember this moment, and say, "DANG."

cheese

chap22 wrote:i just don't have any clue why those two would be skulking about the shadows of a warehouse on Earth.

nor why they would need to hire regular Joe Shmoe underlings to case Uatu's place waaay back in Bru's portion of the Point.One special that started all this.

So they are linking it to that, then? I wondered if that had been resolved in some other series I wasn't reading, or was simply a forgotten plot point.

I enjoyed the issue, for what it was.

For as much stuff by Jason Aaron as I've read now, over the years, I'm not really certain I recall if I've read a murder mystery by him before.

The reason I mention that is because I don't know if that means he "plays fair" with the reader or not.

If you play fair, then you leave clues in there that, while they might be red herrings, won't be so awful that you anger the reader. While everyone understands there will be some suspension of belief, as JMS once said, you have to play fair with the reader. Then, when you make your reveal and explain how the villain knew that taking the Watcher's eyes would give him knowledge, you won't piss everybody off.

Or you could screw the readers over like Brad Meltzer did with Identity Crisis and, out of nowhere, make it Crazy Jean Loring with a flamethrower to cover her tracks, who also somehow knew enough to put out a hit on Jack Drake...when she had never even met Tim Drake.

cheese

chap22 wrote:i just don't have any clue why those two would be skulking about the shadows of a warehouse on Earth.

nor why they would need to hire regular Joe Shmoe underlings to case Uatu's place waaay back in Bru's portion of the Point.One special that started all this.

So they are linking it to that, then? I wondered if that had been resolved in some other series I wasn't reading, or was simply a forgotten plot point.

I enjoyed the issue, for what it was.

For as much stuff by Jason Aaron as I've read now, over the years, I'm not really certain I recall if I've read a murder mystery by him before.

The reason I mention that is because I don't know if that means he "plays fair" with the reader or not.

If you play fair, then you leave clues in there that, while they might be red herrings, won't be so awful that you anger the reader. While everyone understands there will be some suspension of belief, as JMS once said, you have to play fair with the reader. Then, when you make your reveal and explain how the villain knew that taking the Watcher's eyes would give him knowledge, you won't piss everybody off.

Or you could screw the readers over like Brad Meltzer did with Identity Crisis and, out of nowhere, make it Crazy Jean Loring with a flamethrower to cover her tracks, who also somehow knew enough to put out a hit on Jack Drake...when she had never even met Tim Drake.

Ten years later, yeah, I'm still pissed about that.

*Sniff, sniff* "Damn it, Diana...If I'd known they would trade us in for a JT Krul-written Captain Atom and "The Savage Hawkman," I'd have let Superboy-Prime destroy all reality."

"Superman flies and is really strong...what the fuck else do you need to know?!" -- Hitler, expressing his displeasure about DC rebooting and complaints about continuity

DANG!

chap22 wrote:i just don't have any clue why those two would be skulking about the shadows of a warehouse on Earth.

nor why they would need to hire regular Joe Shmoe underlings to case Uatu's place waaay back in Bru's portion of the Point.One special that started all this.

My first response to the first question that is that Dormammu may still be in a weakened state following his battle with Cyclops' X-Men.

"I have my heroes, but no one knows their names"- Sons of the Desert

Strict31 wrote:I'm not sure that combining the nigh-uncontrollable power of LOLtron with the Nacireman is a good idea. Some years from now, when mankind is on the verge of extinction, we'll be able to look back and remember this moment, and say, "DANG."

OMCTO

ElijahSnowFan wrote:For as much stuff by Jason Aaron as I've read now, over the years, I'm not really certain I recall if I've read a murder mystery by him before.

The reason I mention that is because I don't know if that means he "plays fair" with the reader or not.

If you play fair, then you leave clues in there that, while they might be red herrings, won't be so awful that you anger the reader. While everyone understands there will be some suspension of belief, as JMS once said, you have to play fair with the reader. Then, when you make your reveal and explain how the villain knew that taking the Watcher's eyes would give him knowledge, you won't piss everybody off.

See Scalped, the murder of Dashiell's mother.

The identity of the killer became less important with each issue, until the final issues. Not sure if that helps. But I think Aaron will play fair, given his love of crime fiction.

OMCTO

ElijahSnowFan wrote:For as much stuff by Jason Aaron as I've read now, over the years, I'm not really certain I recall if I've read a murder mystery by him before.

The reason I mention that is because I don't know if that means he "plays fair" with the reader or not.

If you play fair, then you leave clues in there that, while they might be red herrings, won't be so awful that you anger the reader. While everyone understands there will be some suspension of belief, as JMS once said, you have to play fair with the reader. Then, when you make your reveal and explain how the villain knew that taking the Watcher's eyes would give him knowledge, you won't piss everybody off.

See Scalped, the murder of Dashiell's mother.

The identity of the killer became less important with each issue, until the final issues. Not sure if that helps. But I think Aaron will play fair, given his love of crime fiction.